“Ephphatha!”

Mark 7 Recalls Jesus' Healing of a Deaf Man

Estimating the numbers of people with hearing loss is challenging, and how a hearing loss impacts a particular person depends upon the type/severity of the loss, available amplification, age at onset, and educational/ rehabilitation strategies, among other factors.  It is even more difficult to estimate the number of people who rely on American Sign Language (ASL).   As of 2010, the U.S. Census Bureau reported 0.5% of individuals over the age of 15 to have a severe hearing loss, while 0.6% of those under 15 had difficulty hearing conversations.  Less formal estimates of how many people utilized ASL varied between a half million and two million.  

Across the United States, there are extremely few priests who are fluent in American Sign Language (ASL).  Few Sunday Masses can be celebrated in ASL; Sunday Masses are also conveyed by sign language interpreters. 

Each Sunday, Mass is celebrated in ASL or conveyed by an interpreter in Northeast Philadelphia:

• 1st Sunday: Our Lady of Ransom, Philadelphia, 12:15 pm (celebrated in ASL)

• 2nd Sunday: Our Lady of Ransom, Philadelphia, 12:15 pm (conveyed by a sign language interpreter)

• 3rd Sunday: Our Lady of Ransom, Philadelphia, 12:15 pm (celebrated in ASL) 

• 4th Sunday: Our Lady of Ransom, Philadelphia, 12:15 pm (conveyed by a sign language interpreter)

• 5th Sunday: Our Lady of Ransom, Philadelphia, 12:15 pm (conveyed by a sign language interpreter)

And in Bucks County,

• 1st Sunday: St. Joseph, Warrington, 10:00 am (conveyed by a sign language interpreter)

• 2nd Sunday: Our Lady of Mt.Carmel, Doylestown 10:30 am (conveyed by a sign language interpreter)

• 3rd Sunday: St. Joseph, Warrington, 10:00 am (conveyed by a sign language interpreter)

And across the river in the nearby Trenton area,

• 1st Sunday: Holy Angels, So.Broad St in Hamilton, 8:30 am (conveyed by a sign language interpreter)

• 2nd Sunday: Holy Angels, So.Broad St in Hamilton, 8:30 am (conveyed by a sign language interpreter)

• 3rd Sunday: Holy Angels, So.Broad St in Hamilton, 8:30 am (conveyed by a sign language interpreter)

• 4th Sunday: St. Gregory the Great, Hamilton Square, 10:30 am (conveyed by a sign language interpreter)

• 4th Sunday: Holy Angels, So.Broad St in Hamilton, 8:30 am (conveyed by a sign language interpreter)

• 5th Sunday: Holy Angels, So.Broad St in Hamilton, 8:30 am (conveyed by a sign language interpreter)

The gifts of our few ASL-fluent priests certainly need to be shared across dioceses for the Sacrament of Reconciliation, special missions, and retreats.

Resources for Teaching the Compendium of the Catechism in American Sign Language:

Much of Part One focuses on what we believe, the Apostles Creed (Click the image for a video of Deacon Patrick Graybill, who is deaf himself.):

 

Much of Part Two focuses on how we celebrate, the Seven Sacraments (Click the first image for a video of Father Chris Klusman, who is deaf himself.  Click the second image for a video of Father Mick Depcick, who is deaf himself, discuss the Sacrament of Reconciliation):

Much of Part Three focuses on how we live, the Ten Commandments and the Beatitudes:

Much of Part Four focuses on how we pray, the Our Father (the Lord's Prayer) ( Click the image for a video of Father Shawn Carey, who is deaf himself.):